Apparatus for production of inert co2 containing gas



April 14, 1936. L. DOELLING 2,03Z15g APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF INERT CO2 CONTAINING GA Filed Nov. 19, 1951 2 SheetsSheet l INVENTOR. LcvuxsDcszuums A TTORNEYS.

L. DOELLING APPARATUS FOR PRODUCTION OF INERT CO2 CONTAINING GAS 1m 1 mT vg n m.H d e .1

1 EILEANSINQ APPARATUS.

- Lums DUELLIG.

INVENTOR A TORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1936 iTED STATES APPARATUS FOR. PRODUCTION OF INER'I. 002 CONTAINING GAS Louis Doel ng, Maplewood, "N. J., assignor to United States Fire Protection Corporation,

Hoboken, N. J.

Application November 19, 1931, Serial No. 576,191

5 Claims.

This invention concerns the control of the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines, more particularly it concerns the control of the flow of such gases in accordance with the quality thereof.

The exhaust gases of internal combustion engines are frequently used as inert gases, after they have been cleansed.- and' provided their nonoxidizing, quality is satisfactory for the use for which such inert gases are intended. In respect to gasoline or petrol engines, this problem of con trolling the exhaust gases or rather the diverting of said gases when they are of insufiicient quality, has been solved (see Patent No. 1,952,005, of Walter J. Willenlorg) by measuring the CO2 contents of the exhaust gases and by controlling their flow accordingly. Such control of the exhaust gases of engines, which burn heavy oils, has however not been attempted to any appreciable extent.

It is an object of this invention to control the flow of the exhaust gases for the purpose of the use thereof for inert gases generally, but most particularly in the case of engines which burn oil, i. e. mainly engines of the Diesel 01' Semi- Diesel type, or engines of the pressure-ignition type.

The reason why the exhaust gases of oil engines have heretofore not been considered as a source of inert gases, is that the proportion of free air contained in such exhaust gases substantially exceeds that normally contained in the exhaust of gasoline engines. I have however discovered that the suitably selected exhaust gases of a properly functioning oil engine may be used as a source of inert gases. As in the case of the exhaust gases of a gasoline engine, the proportionate contents of CO2 in such gases may also be used for an indicator of the quality of inertness of such gases. I have discovered that the exhaust gases of an oil engine contain such an amount of CO2 that they may be used as inert gases, when such an engine is fully loaded, or is carrying a load close to its rated load.

Accordingly in this invention I control the use or non-use of the exhaust gases of an engine by the load carried by said engine. In this manner I accomplish the prime object of this invention, which is the selection of gases of satisfactory quality from the exhaust of an engine; other objects of this invention will be disclosed in the following exemplary description of my invention.

The apparatus used is indicated in the accompanying drawings in a top view:

In these drawings: 7

Fig. 1 shows parts of a dynamo-electric machine and of an oil-engine driving said machine, in combination with a double control apparatus of my invention. Parts of the engine exhaust and of the cleansing apparatus connected thereto are cross-sectioned.

Fig. 2 shows a combination of oil engine and exhaust gas converting apparatus, the operation of thelatter being controlled in accordance with the temperature of the gases exhausted by the engine.

- Fig. 3 shows my apparatus in combination with an engine driven dynamo, the apparatus being controlled in accordance to the varying load carried 'bythe dynamo.

All electric control devices are shown diagrammatically.

The exhaust I of the partly shown Diesel engine 2, which is substantially bi-sected by a line 3, is shown sectioned, the exhaust pipe 4 connecting to the manifold 5, which in turn is connected to the exhaust ports of the cylinders some of which are shown at 6, l and 8. The exhaust pipe 4 is shown tobe tapped by means of a smaller pipe 9 at a T H]. The pipe 9 opens into a cleansing apparatus I l, which is surrounded by a water jacket I2 for cooling purposes in the manner in which the exhaust manifold 5 is shown to be provided with jackets I3. The apparatus II is shown in Fig. 1 to be exemplarily filled with charcoal M, by means of which impurities are removed from the exhaust gases. The exhaust gases are passed through said apparatus from the inlet I5, to which the pipe 9 is connected, to the outlet I6, which connects to the compressor or pump 11.

As a load upon the engine 2, I indicate a dynamo l9, which is directly connected to the engine by a coupling [9. The dynamo I 8 supplies current to a distributing line by way of a feeder 29. The load'connected to said feeder may be observed by a Wattmeter W.

The compressor I1 is driven by means of suitable gearing 2| from an electric motor 22. The conductors 23 and 24, which supply current to motor 22, comprise the relay operated circuit breakers 25 and 26. The lines 23 and 24 are exemplarily shown to be supplied with current from the feeder 20.

The gas, which has been boosted by the compressor l1 passes into a manifold 21 (Fig. 1). A check valve 28 is provided on the manifold 21, which closes the storage tank 29 for inert gases against that manifold. When the gas is sufficiently compressed in the manifold 21 to open the check valve, the compressed gas is passed into the tank 29. When a sufficient amount of gas has been stored in the tank 29, the motor 22 on compressor I1 is shut off. Devices may be provided which are customarily used to bring about such an operation automatically, for instance a circuit breaker in the circuit of the conductors 23 and 24 which is controlled by a pressure gage attached to tank 29, (not shown).

In order to complete an exemplary showing of my device, I have connected to the manifold 21 and to the tank 29 apparatus, which would, for instance, show the use of my invention in connection with a Diesel locomotive. Thus I indicate in Fig. 1 scavengers 30, which are connected to the manifold 27,- in connection with the tank 29, I indicate a pipe system 3|, which comprises valves 32 closed by fusible links. These links collapse or melt when there is an undue rise of temperature at the point where the valves 32 are located. In that instance the inert gas stored in tank 29 is released in order to prevent an explosion or conflagration at or near the location of those valves.

An insulated bushing 33 closes an opening in the exhaust pipe 4, where said pipe connects to the exhaust manifold 5. That bushing supports a thermo-couple 34, which is connected, by means of conduits 35, into the circuit of the galvanometer 36. The scale of the galvanometer 36 is graduated in order directly to show the degrees Fahrenheit to which the thermo-couple 34 is exposed, i. e., the temperature of the exhaust. The galvanometer 36 is adapted to close, when playing over a certain range of the scale thereof, a circuit 38, which comprises battery 39 and the relay 46. The latter actuates the circuit breaker 25. The means on the galvanometer which move to make and break the circuit 38 are exemplarily illustrated by a metallic sector 4|, which extends over that part of the scale, at which the circuit is to be closed, a brush member 42 on the hand 43 of the galvanometer being adapted slidably to contact with said metallic sector. The circuit 38 connects to the hand 43 and to the sector 4|.

Having found that the ordinary Diesel engine furnishes exhaust gases, which are suited for conversion to inert gases, when said exhaust gases have a temperature of 650 Fahrenheit or more, i. e. when the engine operates near or at full load, the sector 4! extends from the 650 division of the scale of the galvanometer to the end of the scale. Assuming that the relay operated circuit breaker 26 is blocked in a closed position, the circuit of motor 22 will be closed by the circuit breaker 25, when the galvanometer registers a temperature of 650 F. or more of the exhaust gases. When the compressor [1 is at rest, since it is of the positive blower type, the exhaust mani: fold and exhaust pipe 4 are closed in the direction of my auxiliary apparatus. When operated the compressor will then suck in part of the exhaust gases, and convert them for use as inert gases. When the temperature of the exhaust gases drops below 650 F., the motor 22 is stopped and the compressor ll closes the pipe system of my device.

Whereas in the foregoing and in particular in Figs. 1 and 2, a thermo-couple is made use of, in order to actuate the compressor when the Diesel engine carries a satisfactory load, this may also be brought about by other means directly indicating that the engine is at or near a point of full load, for instance the current drawn from a dynamo which is coupled to the Diesel engine (Figs. 1 and 3). The wattmeter W, which shows the electric load connected to the dynamo by Way of the main line or-feeder 20, can serve directly for the purpose of closing and opening the circuits 23 and 24 if it is provided with means for closing the circuit of the compressor motor when a desired load has been reached, as indicated on its scale, such circuit closing means being similar to those indicated in connection with the galvanometer 36.

I have indicated in Figs. 1 and 3 a control of the compressor I! by means of the electric load by an electric coil 44 in connection with the relay operated circuit breaker 26. Said coil is arranged in one of the feeder lines 20, the current passing through said coil actuating the circuit breaker 26 at or above a certain load in the feeder circuit 20.

The'circuit breakers 25 and 26 may be used together, e. g. in series in the manner shown in Fig. 1, or separately (Figs. 2 and 3). The temperature at which the circuit breaker 25 is actuated is the point where a satisfactory combustion of the explosive mixture takes place in the engine. Such a temperature ordinarily indicates that a Diesel engine is subjected to three-quarters of its rated load. Coil 44 is designed to close this circuit breaker 26 at a similar electric load.

Broadly speaking, my invention is therefore the control of the conversion of the exhaust gases of an engine for the use as inert gases by the load carried by said engine.

I claim:

1. The combination with an internal combustion engine carrying a varying load and having an exhaust passage and means for indicating the load on said engine operatively connected therewith, of means for diverting exhaust gases of said engine from said passage for use as inert gas, said diverting means being connected with said load indicating means in a manner to be actuated at a predetermined amount of said varying load, so that exhaust gases of said engine are diverted at and above the said predetermined amount of varying load carried by said engine.

. 2. The combination with an oil burning internal combustion engine having an exhaust passage and means indicating the fluctuations of the temperature of the gases passing through said exhaust passage, of means for diverting exhaust gases of said engine from said passage for use as inert gases, said diverting means being connected with said indicating means in a manner to be actuated at a predetermined temperature of said exhaust gases, so that exhaust gases of said engine are diverted at and above the said predetermined temperature of the exhaust gases.

, 3. The combination with an oil burning internal combustion engine having an exhaust passage and with a dynamo-electric machine which is subject to a varying line load, of means for diverting exhaust gases of said engine from said passage for use as inert gases, and electric means controlled by the current in said line and actuated thereby at a predetermined amount of said load, said diverting means being connected with said electric means, in a manner to be actuated at said predetermined amount of said varying load, so that exhaust gases of said engine are diverted at and above the said predetermined amount of varying load carried by said engine.

4. The combination with an oil burning internal combustion engine having an exhaust passage and with a dynamo-electric machine which is subject to a varying line load, of means for diverting exhaust gases of said engine from said passage for use as inert gases, and a relay controlled by the current in said line and actuated thereby at a predetermined amount of said load, said diverting means being connected with said relay in a manner to be actuated at said predetermined amount of said varying load, so that exhaust gases of said engine are diverted at and above the said predetermined amount of varying load carried by said engine.

5. The combination with an internal combustion engine carrying a varying load and having an exhaust passage and means for indicating the load on said engine operatively connected therewith, of a compressor for diverting exhaust gases of said engine from said passage for use as inert gas, said compressor being connected with said load indicating means in a manner to be actuated at a predetermined amount of said varying load, so that exhaust gases of said engine are diverted at and above the said predetermined amount of varying load carried by said engine.

LOUIS DOELLING. 

